1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a synchronous control apparatus of a rotary press including printing units and other necessary units, and more specifically, it relates to a synchronous control apparatus of a rotary press for selecting a drive control target based on printing image information of each printing couple in a rotary press for printing newspaper provided with a plurality of multicolor printing units as printing units each having a combination of at least two printing sections each provided with two printing couples capable of printing, for example, four pages of newspaper arranged in an axial direction of a plate cylinder so that respective blanket cylinders can contact each other and each printing couple can be individually driven.
2.Description of the Related Art
A rotary press in which each printing mechanism forming a printing section, for example, a printing couple or the like constituted by a plate cylinder and a blanket cylinder is individually driven is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-85196. This specification describes that a drive motor provided to be able to individually drive each printing mechanism and retracting device are rotated by being controlled in a rotational angle by a computerized motor controller to make it possible to excellently adjust each printing mechanism and retracting device to each other in accordance with the progress of printing and drive them. This specification also discloses that aggregates of a printing machine, including the retracting device, are variably combined.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-64882 discloses a rotary press constituted by units being printing mechanisms to be mechanically independent and individually driven, and describes that a drive motor for each unit of this rotary press is subjected to a synchronous phase control by control means. Further, it describes that automatic connection between the units is facilitated.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-47905 discloses a rotary printing machine having a plurality of cylinders individually driven and a folding device individually driven by an electric motor, and describes that a master system for operating this rotary press is constituted by an upper master device and an autonomous printing station group separated into a plurality of pieces and assigned to the folding device, which is excellent in flexibility with a simple structure. Further, it also describes that when the printing station group is assigned to the folding device, it can be assigned in any manner.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-114058 discloses a synchronous control apparatus for synchronously controlling a plurality of motors so that differences in mutual phases of machine axes of a plurality of machines rotationally driven by a plurality of motors are held in a fixed relationship.
However, the above-described Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-85196 does not disclose means for variably combining the aggregations of the printing machine. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-64882 does not disclose means for performing automatic connection between the units, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-47905 does not disclose means for assigning the printing station group to the folding device. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-114058 never discloses that the synchronous control apparatus disclosed in this specification specifies or selects a control target.
Incidentally, for example, in newspaper printing, a rotary press in which all printing units are multicolor printing units each with at least two sets of so-called BB printing sections, usually, four sets of them, being stacked in a height direction is used so that multicolor printing surfaces can be placed on all pages, or so that a complicated paper feeder is not required on whichever page the multicolor printing surface may be placed.
However, for various reasons, virtually no newspaper with all of its pages being multicolor printed surfaces is issued. Accordingly, when newspaper is actually printed, it sometimes happens that some of the printing sections are not required to operate, and therefore there arises an increasing request for performing a printing operation while stopping the printing sections having no need to operate, that is, the printing sections that may be stopped, in terms of many points such as energy saving, reduction in running cost, and improvement in operation safety.
However, if an operator specifies the printing sections to be stopped each time, it often happens that the operator fails to specify the printing sections to be specified, and a desired energy saving, reduction in running cost, and improvement in operation safety are sometimes hindered. Though extremely rarely, it happens that the operator specifies the printing sections that are not to be specified, whereby defective printed matters occur and a problem such as a trouble in printing process step occurs, and a delay in operation is caused.
Consequently, a reasonable apparatus capable of correctly and surely specifying the printing sections to be stopped is demanded.
On the other hand, in the above described multicolor printing unit, it goes without saying that supply of ink is not needed in the printing sections that are stopped, but in the printing sections using the blanket cylinders on the other surface sides as the impression cylinders in order to print on only one face of the paper web, the supply of ink is not needed in the printing couples using the blanket cylinders as impression cylinders, either. Therefore, as for the printing couples having no need for supply of ink, a demand for performing a printing operation while stopping ink supply to a printing image on the plate cylinders is increasing, in terms of many points such as energy saving by reduction in drive load, reduction in running cost such as prevention of exhaustion of the inking roller, favorable maintenance of an operation environment by reducing ink mist generation sources, and improvement in operation safety by reducing useless rotationally operating parts.
However, if an operator specifies the printing couples ink supply to which is to be stopped each time, the operator often fails to specify the printing couples to be specified, which sometimes causes troubles in a desired energy saving, reduction in running cost, favorable maintenance of an operation environment, and improvement in operation safety. Though extremely rarely, the operator specifies the printing couples not to be specified, and defective printed matters occur and problems such as a trouble in the printing process step occurs, whereby a delay in operation is caused. Thus, a reasonable apparatus capable of correctly and surely specifying the printing couples ink supply to which is to be stopped is demanded.
The present invention is made in view of the aforementioned points, and its object is to provide a synchronous control apparatus of a rotary press for selecting a control target based on printing image information, which reduces a failure to specify the printing couples to be specified by previously specifying the printing sections that may be stopped, intends to achieve desired energy saving, reduction in running cost, favorable maintenance of an operation environment and improvement in operation safety, and prevents occurrence of defective printed matters by specifying the printing couples not to be specified, the resultant occurrence of a trouble in the printing process step and causation of a delay in operation.
The present invention is, in a rotary press having a plurality of multicolor printing units to print, constructed to include a printing image allocation setting section 8 for allocating printing images which printing couples print, drive means MO for driving the printing couples, inking transmission means 50, first moving means 90 for moving blanket cylinders BC of two of the printing couples, second moving means 62 for allowing ink supply, slave control sections 2 for controlling rotation of the drive means MO, transmission means related to the printing couples and inking devices 60, operation control sections 100 for controlling operations of the first moving means 90 and second moving means 62 according to output signals of the slave control sections 2, and a master control section 1 connected to the printing image allocation setting section 8 and each of the slave control sections 2 via a network 4.